Doha
Qatar Airways and Hamad International Airport (HIA) conducted a planned emergency exercise Wednesday to train staff on managing an aircraft accident at HIA.
The “annual preparedness exercise” is part of Qatar Airways' commitment to ensure that its staff members are equipped to handle any emergency situation in a timely, safe and responsible manner.
HIA officially commenced commercial operations in April 2014 and contains a robust network of highly sophisticated technology, including a state-of-the-art operations control centre.
This is the second emergency exercise to take place at HIA, which was preceded by one held in 2012. This year’s exercise involved airport stakeholders and all major emergency response organisations in Qatar.
The full-scale exercise included some 140 volunteer passengers, a Qatar Airways Airbus 330-200 aircraft with 14 crew members as well as 50 volunteer family members waiting at the airport. The exercise was conducted at a scale that exceeds international requirements to fully test the readiness of the airport, airline, its stakeholders and partners.
Qatar Airways participated in the high-level jointly co-ordinated exercise with HIA (of which Qatar Airways Group is the operator), Qatar Airways Group subsidiaries, Hamad Medical Corporation, Qatar Civil Aviation Authority, Ministry of Interior (MOI), Qatar Emiri Air Force, Qatar Armed Forces, the State of Qatar Police, Civil Defence, the Supreme Council of Health, National Command Centre, Ministry of Defence, Air Customs, Airline Operators Committee, and other support services and organisations.
Group Chief Executive Akbar al-Baker, airline’s senior management, and HIA senior management including Badr al-Meer, HIA chief operating officer, Brigadier Essa Arar al-Rumaihi, director, Airport Security Department (MOI), and Ashish Jain, Qatar Airways senior vice-president (Group Safety & Security) were all present as participants and key stakeholders in the initiative.
The scenario involved a flight that alerted an emergency 15 minutes after take-off from HIA reporting severe flight control problems. Following that a hard landing took place and resulted in simulated injuries and damage to the aircraft that had to be managed by the ground HIA team. Helicopters, ambulances and the aircraft chutes were all deployed for the purposes of this exercise.
Commenting on the exercise, al-Baker, said: "Safety is paramount at Qatar Airways, and is at the heart of everything we do. We ensure that the best safety and emergency response practices are followed in all cases. Our staff is equipped with latest technology and adequate procedures to respond to any emergency at the airport.
"It is an integral part of our operating procedures to hold exercises of this scale. We regularly conduct preparatory activities through which we train our staff to handle any incident to minimise damage and protect passengers and crew.”
The objectives of the exercise included assessing the adequacy of plans and facilities during a major accident at the airport, including the communications, partner response, management of the site, casualty registration and transportation logistics.
On the exercise, Badr al-Meer said, “I am proud to announce that Hamad International Airport’s Emergency Exercise Charlie Oryx 2015 took place seamlessly. The commitment and dedication of all agencies during the preparation and implementation of this exercise has been extremely impressive. This exercise has been a great opportunity for us all to learn and improve our emergency preparedness.”
Jain said, “We are fully committed to developing cohesive safety and security methods and procedures to safeguard the airline and its hub, HIA. Testing our procedures today, provided a great sense of national pride and assurance that the airline and the airport are true leaders in the area of aviation safety and security.”
The airline’s response was co-ordinated from the Qatar Airways’ Group Emergency Control Centre, in the airline’s headquarter buildings, and the airport’s response was co-ordinated from the Emergency Operations Centre at HIA, both of which are equipped with all the tools necessary to manage an incident.
Helicopters, ambulances and an aircraft with chutes were all deployed for the emergency exercise at HIA Wednesday
